Hamilton County Schools Posts Highest Student Academic Growth Since 2013
Student
academic growth in Hamilton County Schools showed significant
improvement according to the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System
(TVAAS) for 2018. The overall
composite score for student academic growth in Hamilton County Schools
improved to Level 3 – meeting growth expectations – from Level 1 last
year. The state department reports TVAAS results for districts and
schools using a range from Level 1 to Level 5. The
2018 results are the first time since 2013 that the district’s overall
TVAAS composite across all subjects showed students meeting growth
expectations.
Literacy
performance remained robust in growth at Level 5, with the strongest
results in elementary and middle school. Social studies also showed
significant growth
in elementary and middle school moving from Level 1 to Level 4. Notably,
the gains in social studies were attained with a new, more rigorous
assessment that students took for the first time this year. Numeracy
continues to be a challenge for the district across
all grade levels coming in at Level 1 on TVAAS for both 2017 and 2018.
High school results generally did not show students meeting growth
expectations and verifies the move to make learning more relevant with
the addition of Future Ready Institutes this year.
“The
results from TVAAS this year are very encouraging and indicates our
schools are trending in the right direction,” said Dr. Bryan Johnson,
superintendent of Hamilton
County Schools. “Children exceeding a year’s worth of academic growth in
classrooms across the district is how Hamilton County Schools will
become the fastest improving school district in the state of
Tennessee.”
TVAAS
measures student growth from one school year to the next. Value-added
growth models determine how effective teachers and schools were in
helping students gain
at least a year’s worth of learning while taking into consideration the
student’s academic history. Growth is a good indicator of school and
teacher effectiveness because it measures how much a student has
progressed during the year regardless of if the student
started behind or did not reach grade-level by the end of the year.
“These
results show student academic growth, but there is still work to be
done to ensure we have prepared our children for success after
graduation,” added Johnson.
“The Future Ready 2023 action plan will guide our path as teachers
accelerate student growth towards higher levels of academic
achievement.”
The Future Ready 2023 district action plan and individual school plans
will help continue progress in our schools in 2018-2019 and beyond.
Several key strategies and action steps are already visible across the
district. Teaching and learning staff have been
reorganized to maximize effectiveness in schools, including the addition
of a social studies lead teacher. The district is implementing clear
learning targets for each classroom so that students and teachers
understand the learning goal each day. The New Teacher
Academy, school-based instructional coaches, and on-going professional
development for teachers are helping to improve instruction. Future
Ready Institutes are making learning relevant to the lives of teens at
the high school level. Moreover, middle schools
have been reimagined as Future Ready Preps, which will include a laptop
for each student. Finally, teacher teams worked hard during the summer
to produce curriculum guides to align with state standards and the
TNReady assessment.
“All
of these changes were planned to continue the progress schools are
making and is evident in the TVAAS results,” said Dr. Justin Robertson,
Chief Schools Officer.
“The results also show opportunities for improvement which supports the
shifts we have made regarding how we are supporting teachers and leaders
through instructional resources and professional learning.”